Australian Silver Kookaburra

Silver Kookaburra

Australia

Value| 1 Dollar (face value)
Mass| 31.1 g (1.0 troy oz)
Diameter| 40.6 mm (1.52 in)
Thickness| 2.98 mm (0.117 in)
Edge| Reeded slanted left
Composition| 99.99% Ag
Years of minting| 1990-present
Obverse
Design| Queen Elizabeth II
Designer| Jody Clark
Design date| 2015
Reverse
Design| A kookaburra at sunset
Designer| Aleysha Howart
Design date| 2018

The Silver Kookaburra is a silver bullion coin originating from Australia, and produced at the Perth Mint starting in 1990. The coins were .999 fine silver until the 2018 edition, which increased in purity to .9999 silver. While the obverse of the coin always depicts the reigning monarch--Queen Elizabeth II during her reign and now features King Charles III, the reverse side changes every year, always featuring a kookaburra, a bird native to Australia. Due to the yearly design change and limited production of the one-ounce coins, they have higher collectible value than some other bullion coins. The Perth Mint, generally, ships the coins in individual plastic capsules. One-ounce coins ship in shrink wrap rolls of 20, with 5 rolls in each box of 100. They are minted in four sizes; 1,000 g, 10, 2 and 1 troy ounces.

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the kookaburra coin, the 2015 coin features the same image of the kookaburra as the original 1990 coin. To differentiate the 1990 and 2015 coins, the date on the reverse reads "1990-2015" and 2015 has been added to the obverse. The 2015 coin had a release date of September 1, 2014.[1]

## Specifications

[edit]

Specifications[2]

Weight
(troy oz)  | Weight
(grams)  | Face Value  | Diameter
(mm)  | Thickness
(mm)
| 1,002.5  | AU$30  | 101  | 14.6
10  | 312.35  | AU$10  | 75.5  | 8.7
2  | 62.77  | AU$2  | 50.3  | 4.5
1  | 31.135  | AU$1  | 40.6  | 4

## One Ounce History

[edit]

The maximum mintage of the one troy ounce coin is capped, while the others have unlimited mintage, based on demand. Perth Mint originally intended to expand the 2013 mintage to one million coins, however, they later reduced this number to 500,000 and declared that future years would continue to be limited to this amount.[3] In addition to the annual design change, there is also a design change between the bullion and proof versions of the coin each year. No proof coins were minted between 2006 and 2011; however, there was a 1-ounce silver proof Kookaburra colored coin struck in 2012 for the Discover Australia coin series.[4] Since 2012, the proof coin has been struck in high relief only.

Special editions such as privy marked, colored and gilded are often available.[5]

Mintages for
standard bullion and proof coins  Year  | Bullion mintage[6] | Proof mintage[7]

|
|

1990  | 300,000  | 21,671
1991  | 6,673
1992  | 219,694  | 6,766
1993  | 190,581  | 5,121
1994  | 174,561  | 2,500
1995  | 154,247  | 3,000
1996  | 170,105  | 3,500
1997  | 159,497  | 2,466
1998  | 103,119  | 2,114
1999  | 109,364  | 1,646
2000  | 104,169  | 2,583
2001  | 169,265  | 3,241
2002  | 91,604  | 1,733
2003  | 109,439  | 1,571
2004  | 84,455  | 1,446
2005  | 95,145  | 2,346
2006  | 87,044  | \-
2007  | 213,436  | \-
2008  | 300,000  | \-
2009  | \-
2010  | \-
2011  | 500,000  | \-
2012  | 10,000
2013  | 5,378
2014  | 2,550
2015  | 8,000
2016  | 2,401
2017  | 406,265  | 2,845
2018  | 243,740  | 1,935
2019  | 219,660  |
2020  | 375,914  |
2021  | 266,676  |
Mintages for privy marked and special releases[8][9] Year  | Privy Mark  | Particularity  | Mintage

|
|
|

1992  | Eagle  | Proof coins only  | 750
1993  | Sydney Opera House | 15,000
1994  | Team Australia — Commonwealth Games |
1995  | Giant panda | Gilded privy  | 10,000
1996  | 15,000
Tricentennial naming of the Swan River |  | 5,000
Eiffel Tower (France)  |
Brandenburg Gate (Germany)  |
Tower Bridge (Great Britain)  |
Colossus of Rhodes (Greece)  |
The Hague (Netherlands)  |
Goya's La Maja desnuda | Gilded privy  | 2,500
Basler stab |
Date on edge of coin  | Date and serial number  | 1,500
1997  | Dragon  | Gilded privy  | 20,000
Phoenix
Panda  | 15,000
Little Mermaid (Denmark)  |  | 5,000
Elk (Finland)  |
Roman Colosseum (Italy)  |
Windmill (Netherlands)  |
Monument of the Discoveries (Portugal)  |
Utrecht Coat of Arms  |  | 2,500
Zurich Coat of Arms  |
Japanese Golden Yen | Gilded privy
Thomas Edison
1998  | St. Stephen's Cathedral (Austria)  |  | 5,000
Celtic harp (Ireland)  |
Robert Schuman Building (Luxembourg)  |
Alhambra palace (Spain)  |
Vasa warship (Sweden)  |
1999  | 1999 Australian Gold Sovereign coin  | Gilded privy
Austrian 20 Schillings |
Belgian 50 Francs |
Finnish 1 Markka |
French 5 Francs |
German 1 Mark |
Irish 1 Punt |
Italian 1,000 Lire |
Luxembourg 50 Francs |
Dutch 1 Gulden |
Portuguese 50 Escudos |
Spanish 100 Pesetas |
Australian 1919 square penny  |  | 3,500
16th century Japanese Koban coin  | Gilded privy  | 2,500
2001  | Commonwealth Star | 10,000
Santa Claus | Colored privy  | 1,000
2002  | US Flag | 18,496
2004  | Gilded kookaburras  |  | 10,000
2005  | Western zodiac (12 coins total)  |  | 5,000
(for each month)
2007  | Gilded kookaburra  |  | 10,000
2012  | Lunar dragon |  | 64,989
2013  | Lunar snake |  | 50,000
Fabulous 15  |  | 7,600
2014  | Lunar horse |  | 50,000
Fabulous 15  |  | 7,000
2015  | Lunar goat |  | 50,000
Fabulous 15  |  | 7,350
2016  | Lunar monkey |  | 50,000
Fabulous 15  |  | 5,252
2017  | Lunar rooster |  | 50,000
Panda  |  | 8,000
Shark  |  | 31,482
2018  | Lunar dog |  | 50,000
Panda  |  | 8,000
Fabulous 15  |  | 4,805

## See also

[edit]

* Australian Silver Kangaroo (bullion)
* Australian Silver Koala
* Bullion
* Bullion coin
* Inflation hedge
* Silver as an investment

## References

[edit]

General

* 2020 Standard Catalog of World Coins - 1901–2000, 47th Edition, publication date 2019, Krause Publications, ISBN 978-1-4402-4896-2
* 2020 Standard Catalog of World Coins - 2001–Date, 14th Edition, publication date 2019, Krause Publications, ISBN 978-1-4402-4897-9

Specific

1. ^ "Unveiled - The 2015 Australian Bullion Coin Program". Perth Mint Bullion Blog. 13 August 2014. Archived from the original on August 13, 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
2. ^ "Kookaburra". bullionweb.de. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
3. ^ Currie, Ron (30 April 2013). "1oz Australian Kookaburra Mintage Declared At 500,000". Perth Mint Bullion Blog. Retrieved 16 May 2014. "...the mintage of this year's release has been declared at 500,000. For consistency going forward, ... the maximum mintage of 500,000 will be applied to all future 1oz Kookaburra releases."
4. ^ "1 Dollar - Elizabeth II, Australia". en.numista.com. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
5. ^ "Everything You Need To Know About Kookaburra Silver Coins (2023 Update) | Silver Bullion". www.silverbullion.com.sg. 2019-01-17. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
6. ^ "The Australian Kookaburra Silver Bullion Coin Series" (PDF). Perth Mint. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
7. ^ "Collector Coin Mintages". Perth Mint. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
8. ^ "Australian Silver Bullion Privy Coin" (PDF). Perth Mint. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
9. ^ "Silver Kookaburra - Privy Mark". bullionweb.de. Retrieved 21 February 2020.